BBC Radio 4 was always crackling away in the background during my childhood. As a teenager I switched to Radio 1, not because I liked the sycophantic disc jockeys but because this was the only music station in remote Orkney. In my late 20s, however, I could stand Radio 1’s vacuous drivel no longer. As I have now been sucked down the inevitable vortex of becoming my father, my own children complain about the constant chatter and discussion on …